fbpx Getting LGBTQ+ young people into sport - London Youth

23 June 2022

To mark Pride month, we spoke to Lucie Brooke (pronouns: she/her) Director & Co-founder of Free2B, about getting LGBTQ+ young people involved in sport through our Getting Active programme.

What are some of the barriers for LGBTQ+ young people getting involved in sport?

We asked our young people and they identified several factors that stopped them from getting involved. Motivation, poor mental health and a feeling of exclusion were some that they mentioned frequently. So did the cost of activities.

Language can be a big barrier. Gendered language on marketing materials and registration forms creates a barrier for many LGBTQ+ young people. And interestingly, so does the use of the word ‘sport’. It’s a word often associated with something not achievable or not of interest, whereas a lot of our members participate in activities that involve movement.

In schools the PE curriculum is very gendered. Girls play hockey and boys play football or rugby. Some young people might have previous experiences of being bullied, or teachers and coaches making wrong assumptions. Offsite activities and trips require consent from parents and carers. This is limiting because not all young people are out at home so limits the opportunities to young people who’ve been able to have that conversation and have family support.

There’s a lack of awareness about LGBTQ+ opportunities to be active. Many of our trans young people automatically assume they can’t and won’t be able to swim, but there’s an amazing trans* swimming group in south London called TAGS. It’s just not visible like other community sport providers.

There’s more limited representation and visibility of role models in sport.

How have you supported young people to break down some of these barriers?

Our use of language is key to creating a safe space and offering an environment where you can try something at your own pace without fear of judgement. We always link activity back to how it supports better mental health.

One of our approaches is that we aren’t openly naming the Getting Active programme. We just provide opportunities for young people to be active and move during our weekly inclusive youth sessions. We lay out equipment, put on music, then we create an experience and support young people to invent an activity with this equipment. It’s about intentionally presenting it in a different way.

When we introduced boxing, we pitched it in relation to wellbeing, how it can support dealing with stress, how it can be a coping mechanism for dealing with societal transphobia or the frustration of being mis-gendered. Boxing is now in their toolkit as a healthy and effective way to deal with this.

Our use of language is key to creating a safe space and offering an environment where you can try something at your own pace without fear of judgement. We always link activity back to how it supports better mental health.

It’s important that we form the positive connection for our young people between physical activity and mental wellbeing. It’s a conversation we have regularly so they see the interlink. What really helps is using the 5-ways to wellbeing approach and having skilled youth workers who can deliver the message and activities in the right way.

One of our youth workers also works at another London Youth member – Carney’s Community – so we have the benefit of their youth work practice and expertise in boxing. This has helped establish a pathway for our young people to progress into a more traditional boxing setting when they feel comfortable. We have also provided Carney’s with inclusivity training for their coaches and volunteers – a really positive partnership.

How important are openly LGBTQ+ sportspeople like Jake Daniels to help get LGBTQ+ young people involved in sport?

The young people we support didn’t really know many LGBT+ sportspeople. The representation that resonated might be someone wearing a rainbow lanyard while exercising or discussing openly they are from the LGBTQ+ community.

As youth professionals, we feel there’s an importance that seeing is believing. Perhaps as these sports become more inclusive then our young people will start to associate more with the professional level.

This recognition and connection differs when it comes to other cultural spheres such as music, TV and film. The visibility of a trans person playing a trans character or singing about being trans is directly speaking to the LGBTQ+ community. Sport, particularly at a professional level, perhaps doesn’t allow for a person’s LGBTQ+ identity to be as apparent.

What’s it been like to run a sports programme for the first time over the last year?

We spoke about this as a team, and it’s just been really fun!

We’ve been able to find activities that young people enjoy rather than having to deliver predetermined activities. The flexibility and open definition of activity has worked really well for us. It added value in providing a safe and positive space to help young people explore and develop themselves.

The whiteboard activity alongside the physical activity has brought through the young people’s voices and facilitated conversation. We did a whiteboard about the Gay Olympics and how best to support trans young people to access sessions. This included hearing from one of our trans members who does climbing as a hobby. They got to share their lived experience and offer practical advice.

Delivering Getting Active is encouraging our creative thinking. Now, it’s just becoming part of our weekly provision rather than being standalone session.

In one sentence, what’s one message you want to share during Pride?

Pride should be all year around, be proud of yourself all year around, be proud of yourself always!

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